mig or tig what do you use more in your shop and why?

[wide45]

My job often has me building up worn cast iron with the TIG.

TIG is easy to learn, but it does take some work to get good at it.

If you do a lot of MIG, the first thing you have to learn is don't touch anything with the tungsten when it's live.

[RIIID]

I used to have a local guy do my Tig welding, until he found out I could weld with oxy/fuel. After that he told me to get my own welder and quit wasting both of our time. I had to learn to oxy/fuel weld because my dad wouldn't let me get a stick welder because electricity was too expensive. I found tig welding very easy to do, the key is metal prep, one of the newer metal treatments like melonite gets down into the metal and all of it must be removed before it can be welded. Worm holes and porosity will rear their ugly head from improper prep and technique. Practice, practice, and more practice and you can become a decent welder, to get really good one has to weld a variety of metals and positions proficiently. I got a Miller SD 210? AC/DC air cooled tig/stick, I really wanted a water cooled machine but just didn't have the room in my shop for it. For the record I suck at welding aluminum, it looks nothing like a row of nickels, I just need to practice....................

Rich

[Ray_Z]

No process is ideal for every situation I TIG, MIG and Stick electrode weld often and occasionally Oxy-Act weld.

For gun part work (small things and you want to be very precise with heat control) a TIG is what you’re going to want. You’re not going to do something like this with the other processes.

[warpspeed]

No process is ideal for every situation I TIG, MIG and Stick electrode weld often and occasionally Oxy-Act weld.

For gun part work (small things and you want to be very precise with heat control) a TIG is what you’re going to want. You’re not going to do something like this with the other processes.

Holy Crap!

That right there is some serious talent.

[RIIID]

The guys who demo'd the Lincoln welders would weld two razor blades together, sharp edge to sharp edge.

Rich

[Seth]

The guys who demo'd the Lincoln welders would weld two razor blades together, sharp edge to sharp edge.

Rich

Fused or with Filler? I'll be trying that one on monday. It can't be that hard.

[jmorris]

Holy Crap!

That right there is some serious talent.

Thanks, but it's just the right machine and practice. I started welding 24 years ago with sticks that my grandfather left outside in the rain, on scraps of metal (my dad didn’t like them either so you're only wasting power at that point) then to Oxy/Act welding rusted exhaust with coat hangers. New rod and MIG then TIG welders seemed like cheating (think gamer). A far cry from X-rayed Stainless and Ti parts but you have to start somewhere.

Edited February 27, 2010 by jmorris

[Jason Perkins]

In a few months I think I am going to buy a Miller Syncrowave 200 tig welder, I got handed a Lincoln wire-matic 250, changing the spools will be a pain between stainless and carbon steel, I'm sure I'll be able to make it work for what I am doing at the moment, wich is working on a browning HP welding on the beaver tail and a few things like that. I look forward to getting a Miller tig, I don't think I'll have much problem learning how to use it, I'll be welding cans and razors and hoods and barrel lugs with one soon I am sure!!! Thanks for all the input guys, I must have one soon!! Jason

[Seth]

The 200 isn't water cooled torch...You may want to consider the upgrade. Air cooled torches shorten your productivity down a LOT.

Edited February 27, 2010 by Seth

[jmorris]

The 200 isn't water cooled torch...You may want to consider the upgrade. Air cooled torches shorten your productivity down a LOT.

For production they do, not so much for small fast little jobs that you are likely to encounter gunsmithing. I do like the smaller size of water cooled torches but air cooled is not a deal breaker. An air cooled Miller is better than an H2O cooled POS, if that’s what you have the money for I’d get it. Either way you can add water cooling later. My Syncrowave 350’s water cooler is not factory all you need is a pump and a tank. One fellow I know just runs city water through his torches, but that’s a bit wasteful for me and I’m not even a tree hugger.

[Jason Perkins]

yes, I will be able to get a water cooled torch for the 200 if I ever do enough to need one, I was told if I do very much aluminum I should get one, but I don't think I'll be doing that kind of welding anytime soon, I need a little part welded maybe every 2 to 3 weeks If I had a new tig I'm sure I would be finding reasons to use it more. Most things on guns that I would be welding would take maybe just a coupple min to weld if not just a few seconds, so the torch probably wont be getting very worm at all. I looked into the 350 but with the extra $2500 it cost, I would rather use the extra money on a heat treating oven and part inventory.